Bourdain’s bizarre final interview

ANTHONY Bourdain pulled no punches in his last published interview - imagining Harvey Weinstein's death in detail and slamming former US President Bill Clinton as "rapey, gropey and disgusting".

The celebrity chef and globetrotter, who died in a French hotel in June, sat down with a writer from independent publication Popula in February for a wide-ranging conversation published on Sunday - covering politics, his favourite writers, his love life and the revelation he'd started smoking cigarettes again.

Bourdain - who at the time of his death was dating Italian actress Asia Argento, one of the women accusing Weinstein of sexual harassment and assault - shared a particularly detailed fantasy of the disgraced mogul's demise.

"My theory of how he goes is uh, he's brushing his teeth in a bathroom, he's naked in his famous bathrobe, which is flapping open, he's holding his cell phone in one hand because you never know who on the Weinstein board has betrayed him recently, and he's brushing his teeth," Bourdain said.

"He suddenly gets a massive f**king stroke - he stumbles backwards into the bathtub, where he finds himself um, with his robe open feet sticking out of the tub, and in his last moments of consciousness as he scrolls through his contacts list trying to figure out who he can call, who will actually answer the phone.

"And he dies that way, knowing that no one will help him and that he is not looking his finest at time of death."

Bourdain described in detail a fantasy of how Harvey Weinstein will die.

Bourdain also slammed both Bill and Hillary Clinton for their handling of the former president's affair with Monica Lewinsky and other alleged sexual misdeeds.

He called Bill "a piece of s**t. Entitled, rapey, gropey, grabby, disgusting, and the way that he - and she - destroyed these women and the way that everyone went along, and, and are blind to this!

"How can you on the one hand howl at the moon about all these other predators and not at least look back?"

The Clintons, he said, "efficiently dismantled, destroyed and shamelessly discredited" women who came forward with accusations of sexual misconduct against the former president, adding that it is "unforgivable."

Still, Bourdain said he didn't think the Lewinsky scandal was enough to pull Clinton from office.

"It was the shaming, discrediting, undermining the women that made both of them unsuitable for any future endeavours," he said.

In the interview, conducted about five months before his death at 61, Bourdain revealed that he and Argento had recently started smoking again together - and spent part of the interview sucking on Marlboro Reds.

"He was a little rueful about the smoking, had the air of someone who meant to quit soon," the interview's introduction reads.

When asked if he was in love with Argento, the TV host responded, "Oh yeah."

Bourdain, a prolific writer, also discussed some of his favourite authors, including Joan Didion and Patricia Highsmith.

In a bittersweet moment, he spoke about his 11-year-old daughter, Ariane Busia-Bourdain, saying: "My daughter feels loved. She knows she's loved. She has good self-esteem. Very important … that's all I can do as a father."

If you are experiencing mental health issues or suicidal feelings contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or BeyondBlue 1300 224 636. If it is an emergency please call 000.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was republished with permission.